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Canva Relaunches Affinity as Free All-in-One Design App
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No no no.
Another traditional app has died.
I bought the whole Affinity suit as it was cheap and good.
I paid once, and I have (had) all the tools for my little hobby. I do not want a subscription model at all.
And no, do not think that this will be free forever. The basic version might be now, but the will soon make the basic version ever more basic to push people into their subscription model.
Its just the start of the en********ation process live.
Another traditional app has died.
I bought the whole Affinity suit as it was cheap and good.
I paid once, and I have (had) all the tools for my little hobby. I do not want a subscription model at all.
And no, do not think that this will be free forever. The basic version might be now, but the will soon make the basic version ever more basic to push people into their subscription model.
Its just the start of the en********ation process live.
But Blackmagic has a completely different business model. They primarily sell hardware and also "classic" licenses for DaVinci Resolve Studio.
I did not read that the V2 software was going to stop working? Just keep what you have been using for your hobby and be happy! Or try out the new free version! Win-win!
Can't wait for them to start putting stuff behind the paywall. Developers gotta eat, I know, but this ain't the way.
Shame iOS and iPadOS aren't attractive to open-source projects.
Shame iOS and iPadOS aren't attractive to open-source projects.
I don't like Canva but they're not the ones who developed Affinity so it seems like a good deal for now. Affinity was pretty cool with very good features, the only thing I didn't like about it was that the small quirks that are different from Photoshop. Some things are just more intuitive and more mature in Photoshop, but Affinity Photo had a ton of much more modern and less buggy features. It's the basics that I kind of had issues with, but it's well worth switching to from a subscription model.
I'll keep using V2 until it stops being compatible with my devices. At that point, hopefully we'll have viable FOSS alternatives. Remember: when something is free, you (and your data) are the product.
In Canva’s email they said V2 would remain usable but no more updates are coming for these apps.I did not read that the V2 software was going to stop working? Just keep what you have been using for your hobby and be happy! Or try out the new free version! Win-win!
“Free” helps establish a user base they will eventually start charging.
The catch is you MUST sign up with Canva for a subscription. Yes, you can get a free subscription but new advanced tools going forward (like the AI stuff) require a paid subscription.
That’s for version 3 only of course. Who knows what will happen in a couple of years with version 5 or whatever? However, I do think they have an incentive to keep it free for a while, as that’s their way of getting more people to move over from Adobe.
In fact, one major reason I bought Affinity 2.x was because of their fire sale when Adobe had their AI-training-on-user-projects fiasco. Canva is trying hard to expand their user base, and they are using their Affinity suite as a loss leader. It does make sense for them, because in the greater scheme of things, buying Affinity didn’t actually cost them that much.
That’s for version 3 only of course. Who knows what will happen in a couple of years with version 5 or whatever? However, I do think they have an incentive to keep it free for a while, as that’s their way of getting more people to move over from Adobe.
In fact, one major reason I bought Affinity 2.x was because of their fire sale when Adobe had their AI-training-on-user-projects fiasco. Canva is trying hard to expand their user base, and they are using their Affinity suite as a loss leader. It does make sense for them, because in the greater scheme of things, buying Affinity didn’t actually cost them that much.
As a long time Affinity user, that'll be a strong "no" for me. I ain't signing up for no stinkeen subscription (free or not) to use software.
Also, TANSTAAFL. Canva needs to make up it's purchase cost somehow, and to quote Bruce Schneier, “If something is free, you’re not the customer; you’re the product.”
Also, TANSTAAFL. Canva needs to make up it's purchase cost somehow, and to quote Bruce Schneier, “If something is free, you’re not the customer; you’re the product.”
After Canva bought Serif, the Affinity line of products are dead to me. Shame too since I've purchased every version of Designer and Photo since v1.0. I haven't heard anything positive about Canva, and have heard people refer to them as the likes of Adobe and Autodesk. I've already replaced Designer with VectorStyler.
I am interested to see what happens with Pixelmator Pro after Apple's acquisition however.
I am interested to see what happens with Pixelmator Pro after Apple's acquisition however.
Macromedia Suite FTW!
Oops they sold out too
Adobe bought Macromedia for Flash and Dreamweaver, and gutted the rest of the product line because they were competing products (Fireworks, Freehand, etc.).
While not free, I have been drifting towards ON1 (and this change by Canva will push me harder). One of things I like about the ON1 suite is that I have this vague, indescribable, feeling that the packages are formulated like "This is how you want to improve your image, which leads to these pixels changes", rather than "Make these pixel changes, which will lead to improving your image".
Luckily my needs are simple, so I’ll just stick with Affinity 2.6 for as long as I can. However, I suspect within a few years it will become stale, and may no longer work properly with future versions of macOS without the necessary product updates.
They've been charging for this and now are making it free. So I'm not following your reasoning here.
Whether that poster is right or not, it’s not hard to understand. They’re making it free now to bring in new users, but we don’t know what will happen in a few years, as they are under no obligation to keep it free forever.
That was why I was pushed into a new iPhone this year. Apps I wanted to use no longer worked under iOS 16, but worked under newer versions, and my iPhone X was stuck on 16.
As registered Affinity user, I never saw (or don;t remember seeing) any such email. Where and when did you receive it?
For better or worse, Adobe is an industry standard. It's never going out of business.